Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Pannaz was buzzing with journalists, guests, awards recipients and food enthusiasts when Lyrical Lemongrass and I arrived. Looking at the meticulous coordination; from the elegant decorative pieces to the menu cards to the goodie bags to the projector, I knew it was going to be a night to remember.

It was FriedChillies’s first Annual Foodster’s Awards where foodies get to vote for their favourite local stalls and restaurants of different food categories. It was an appreciation towards the existence of tastes that are close to us and the people behind these delicious, local fares. And that, to me, is already a celebration itself. I mean, how often do we see an awards party of this magnitude and grandeur that acknowledges the hours of hardwork put in by the cooks just to earn your few ringgits (or lesser, even) from, say a bowl of appetizing assam laksa? To me, they are undoubtedly the unsung heroes of the city’s foodscape.

The programs for the night included an impressive opening speech by Adly (FriedChillies’ CEO) which almost had me dashing to Nam Chuan for a bowl of Sarawak laksa, creative video presentations, a groovy acoustic performance by SlowJaxx and of course, a taste of Pannaz.

There were hors d'oeuvres (including an interesting duet of watermelon and sun-dried tomatoes), bowls of full-bodied mushroom soup, mains (I had a fantastic piece of lamb with brown sauce) and desserts consisted of sweet bread-alike, ice cream and chocolate cake.

Here is the list of winners with their respective addresses and GPS coordinates (taken from FriedChillies’ website):

Going through the winner’s list, I realized that I have only tried the satay. Yes, I have committed a huge food crime. Kuala Lumpur’s supreme foodcourt should imprison me for life! I should be barred from entering the city! The winners should throw rotten eggs at me!

Okay, food dramas aside, something interesting did happen.

“Let’s have a burger crawl tonight,” said the excited Boolicious, as we watched the video of the making of a piece of culinary art by OM Burger (winner of the best street burger).

"Very good idea lah!"

It was somewhere before midnight when we reached OM Burger. Thanks to Riz (FriedChillies’ creative director), we managed to get there within approximately twenty minutes as opposed to days if we were unguided.

We had company that night. Lots of it, to be precise. They were the ancient meteorologists. And by their staggering number, a heavy downpour was to be expected later that night.

The stall was unlit. This was to prevent the flying ants from fluttering anywhere near the food. But the convenient store behind it was not so lucky. The ants had already built a kingdom in it. Many died along the way, in search of light and warmth. If I may say, the flying ants added to the whole local makan experience.

They called it the Sloppy Burger. Despite the name, it was everything flavourful and fun. Take a bite to understand that the egg wrapping the piece of meat is cooked to moist perfection while the molten cheddar and sauces add to the euphoric burst of flavours. Sloppy? I call this modern art.

Too bad the crawl came to an unexpectedly early end as the second stop (burger with apple slices!) was closed that day. Nevertheless, we all went home happy and full.

Today, I looked at my calendar and realised that the last few days of Week 15 were spent celebrating all things local. I managed to catch the incredible Talentime, had a fantastic plate of fatty char siew at a wet market, went for an amazing awards party honouring local food (thank you, FriedChillies!) followed by a superb street burger and was caught in the jam from Sungai Wang all the way to Jalan Tun Razak (and beyond).

Gosh, should I then be prosecuted for not trying any one of the places listed, for not updating my blog over a month, for eating more SG food than KL food, for bearing the thought that SG food is actually not bad...

Have no fear , the Best Awards are yet to come from the Black & the White for the truest love & spurting gasps of sensuous deep satisfaction always follow unrestrained passion which will soon , we hope be chronicled for the innocent World to appreciate.

thenomadGourmand, nice meeting you that day. i remember seeing your face on your blog but just couldnt recall that day..hehe...no worries, with the address, i think we'll be able to go anytime now. ;D

j2kfm, yeah, it was good time to meet up with some blogging friends! not sure if it's the first of its kind but the idea is fantastic, me thinks. ;D as for other states, yeah, that would be fun! imagine best ipoh taugeh chicken. sure hot one. ;D

sc, yupe, it was definitely fun meeting up with friends. ;D woah, you tried 6 already? you da bomb! haha, i guess everyone has their own preference la, hor? like me, i still prefer my roasted duck at kepong. must try! ;D ;D

selba, thanks for the compliment! ;D haha, that cat was looking at us when we eat. and the kind boolicious and splashie boy actually fed them with some cat food! now isnt that sweet...awwwww....

joe, nope. it was boo's. ciki's camera rosak already. so, boo pinjam-ed her the camera. the camera is quite fun.

unkaleong, we go there la, next time! burger crawl! ;D hey, i think that place is just a short drive from city centre la. can go after work today! ;D

mimi, hmmm, good question! i dunno if it was black pepper cos it wasnt really peppery but it was definitely yummy. oh, i have friends who eat McChicken without the sauce. so, you are not weird lah. :D

xiu long bao, you can start your sentence by giving me a treat this saturday. free flow of paulaner, extra dark..hehehe..ohh, add a dinner to it. dai chow will be fine. ;D

selba, great! glad u liked the song! i dont think they have a chinese version for that. do check out the movie's soundtrack. it's fantastic! ;D you are welcome on the links. ;D

550ml jar of faith, oh, yes...malaysian food is fantastic. the blend of different cultures alone will have one mesmerized. and we havent started on the details yet..;D chaotic deliciousness, that burger. ;D

kenny aka ll's hss (heheheh), hey, i must go check out that nasi lemak stall d la. read some good things about it. when you free?oh, btw, you can borrow my pics. no prob! cant wait for your take on the event!:D

jun, red carpet? haha! actually, the FriedChillies team wanted to keep things casual and fun. it was, definitely. i guess the grandeur came from the food themselves. how awesome is that, eh? ;D

lyrical lemongrass, yes yes yes! instead of all the kentuts and kenots, let's go for all!!! ;D and we'll end the crawl with a tsunami burger...cant wait la!

cumi & ciki, thanks for the compliment ya! ;D of course we were at the same place la. heheheheh....your shots are good la. and cool. ;D *passing minyak cap kapak to the pengsan-ing ciki*

sugar bean, cool! yupe, you should definitely visit them when you get back to kl. they'll be waiting! ;D i myself am going for the nasi lemak soon, i hope! ;D

backstreetgluttons, haha! my knowledge not that good to compile a list liddat lar...this the Black and the White only knows of the best dim sum at jalan ipoh batu 3 (mee boon), best roasted duck (kwong kee kepong) and errr, best hokkien mee still remains a mystery. the sensuous deep satifaction comes after dat, no doubt.